1889 Kinney Brothers Naval Vessels of the World (N226) Non-Sport Forum

Should we differentiate between ships that share the same name but are technically different ships (like the Enterprise)?

Here's an example: the HMS Dreadnought.

I didn't realize ships could be named the same, but I would imagine they should be separated, just like you would a Joe Smith of the 1970s ("b. 1951", for example) versus Joe Smith of the 1920s ("b. 1893").

I would think that just the commissioning year could be used as the differentiation.

That was my gut feeling as well. However, I thought there might be some kind of tradition with a ship's name that makes the name of the vessel more important than the physical ship.

I'm working on PIDs for 1889 Kinney Brothers Naval Vessels of the World (N226) and nearly every ship so far has a lineage. Fairly clear what vessel the cards in this set represent but I didn't want to offend any Navy guys. As a retired Army soldier, I know how sensitive the Navy can be about their boats.

I've been using launch date.

I think they should absolutely be different.  The USS Enterprise is a good example.  There have already been 8 US Naval vessels to bear that name, with a 9th in the planning stages.  AND that doesn't count the USS Enterprise from Star Trek.  

In addiion to commission years or something like that, another possible differentiator is the alphanumeric designation:

USS Enterprise: aircraft carrier from 1936 to 1946:  CV-6 ("Carrier Vessel-6")

USS Enterprise: nuclear aircraft carrier from 1961 to 2012: CVN-65 ("Carrier Vessel, Nuclear-65")

USS Enterprise: nuclear carrier in production: CVN-80

USS Enterprise: starship from Star Trek: NCC-1701

I love how cnangle doesn't want to offend the navy folks, then calls them boats.  That always riles my two navy vet friends when I do it.  I did not personally serve (and thanks a million times over to those of you who did, voluntarily or via draft), so I know that maybe my two friends are not a representative sample.  But it did give me a chuckle.  So thanks, cnangle, whether it was intentional or not.

-Kent

Like I said, Navy folks are sensitive.